Railways continue to set records for grain movement

Canadian National Railway (CNR) moved more than 2.96 million metric tonnes of grain from Western Canada in May 2026, establishing a new monthly record and surpassing the previous high of 2.54 million tonnes set in May 2025. This was after CNR established their new record for April by hauling 3.2 million metric tonnes of grain for that month. This latest record marks eight consecutive months of strong performance by CNR for this crop year, with seven of these months seeing new monthly records.

The record performance was supported by strong export demand and ample grain supplies.

Not to be outdone, Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), hauled 2.9 million metric tonnes of Canadian grain in April, which beat its previous April tonnage record set in 2020. This came on the heals of CPKC’s new monthly records for itself in January and February. In the first quarter of the year, it hauled 7.2 million metric tonnes of Canadian grain and grain products.

“The volumes of Canadian grain and grain products moving on our railway in multiple weeks exceeded the average supply chain capacity targets outlined in our annual grain service plan,” CPKC said in a news release. “It is critical that all supply chain participants, including customer loading facilities and terminal operators loading grain into vessels at ports, operate at full capacity to sustain this strong momentum.”

Increased supply, robust export demand, and improved operational efficiency have allowed both networks to move unprecedented volumes of Canadian grain.